TRB: No penalty fee for cashless tolls yet; operators must first resolve problems

The toll regulator said on Monday that there would be no penalties for violations of the revised guidelines for all vehicles on toll expressways until the toll operators’ problems were resolved.

“Totoo po ‘yun, ‘yun na rin respectfully with the decision of the House Committee on Transportation to investigate several key operational issues in the toll operators,” TRB Executive Director Atty. Alvin Carullo said at a press conference at the Palace when asked about the imposition of penalty.

(That’s right, we respect the House Transportation Committee resolution that we should not impose tolls until the toll operators’ operational problems are resolved.)

Carullo acknowledged that toll operators need to fix operational problems in their systems.

“In this case, there may be problems with the operating system at toll operators, in this case it is not possible to suspend or delay the implementation.” “There are no penalties, but there may be problems with the system because the costs for toll operators are not that high,” he said.

(We cannot deny that there are still problems with the operating system of our toll operators. We have decided to suspend or postpone the implementation because we clearly recognize that there is a problem in the system. This gives the toll operators time to fix their systems.)

Transportation Secretary Jaime Bautista reiterated that the Philippine government is considering imposing penalties for violations of the revised guidelines for all vehicles on toll expressways by January next year.

“Regarding the deferment of toll roads, we are extending the implementation of the penalties until January next year, but not the entire cashless expressway program as per the joint memorandum with Circular No. 2024-001,” Bautista said in the same briefing.

“We are collecting the results of the recent consultation meetings with various toll road stakeholders, including information and profiles of traffic offenders. This information will be used to make any changes to the joint circular,” he added.

According to Joint Circular No. 2024-001, motorists who use toll roads without a valid RFID or electronic toll collection device (ETC), even if the device is in disrepair, will be penalized on the grounds of “no valid ETC device” and subject to the following fines:

• First offense – 1,000 P
• Second offense – 2,000 P
• Subsequent violations – P5,000 per violation

Anyone leaving a highway with insufficient load will be penalized as “insufficient load” with the following penalties:

• First offense – P500
• Second offense – 1,000 P
• Subsequent violations – P2,500 per violation

At the same time, the use of fraudulent, manipulated or counterfeit RFID devices and e-cards when entering and exiting toll motorways will be penalized as a “fraudulent or counterfeit ETC” and will be punished with a fine of:

• First offense – 1,000 P
• Second offense – 2,000 P
• Subsequent violations – P5,000 per violation

—AOL, GMA Integrated News